'It was needless' - Neil Lennon slams Celtic star's moment of madness vs Bologna as no sympathy shown
Neil Lennon was reacting to both yellow cards which led to the Hoops midfielder’s dismissal against Bologna
Former Celtic boss Neil Lennon had little sympathy for Reo Hatate after the midfielder was sent off in last night’s 2-2 Europa League draw against Bologna after picking up two bookings in the space of three minutes.
The Japanese international had opened the scoring after just five minutes in Italy when he was set up by compatriot Daizen Maeda, who pounced on a mistake from goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski.
Speaking in his punditry role on TNT Sports, Lennon admitted that Hatate was slightly unfortunate to pick up the second yellow but acknowledged that he was rightly penalised for his actions.
“It was needless,” the current Dunfermline boss said as he reacted to the first foul. “He’s pulled him and then had a swipe at him. For me, it’s a clear yellow card so early in the game.”
Discussing the second caution, which led to his dismissal, Lennon added: “He has flicked the foot out at him. In Europe, players are going to make a meal of this to try and catch the referee’s eye. What he’s done is give the referee a decision to make. Unfortunately, it’s gone against Celtic.
”For a player of his experience, over a period of three minutes having got Celtic off to a great start, he’ll be disappointed with that.”
Celtic defender makes ‘true character’ admission
Centre-back Auston Trusty, who produced a colossal performance against the Italians, took the positives from the result and reckons Celtic showed their “true character” to come away with a priceless point.
“Amazing,” he responded when asked to sum up Celtic’s show of strength following Hatate’s red card. “Going down to ten men and having a lot of the game to play is a tough ask, but the team shows the true mentality that we never give up.
“Unfortunately, we did not get three points, but a point on the road is also good. (Tonight is) not a turning point - I would say it is something to build on. We have had a strange period, and things have not necessarily gone our way, but it shows the true character of the team.
“We have a great captain, Callum (McGregor) who is leading us, and this organisation is all about winning and putting good performances out there. Unfortunately, we tied tonight, but that is the mindset.”